1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present general inventive concept relate to an image forming apparatus, a cartridge and an image forming method, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus which sets a state of a cartridge depending on a usage amount of the cartridge, a cartridge and an image forming method.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus forms an image on a recording medium based on printing data. The image forming apparatus includes a cartridge to accommodate an image forming agent therein to be used to form an image. As a consumable, the cartridge should be replaced by a new one after being used up.
A user may replace the cartridge with a cheap and non-genuine cartridge. However, the non-genuine cartridge has properties different from those of the genuine cartridge. Durability of a photosensitive body and a developing unit of an image forming unit of the image forming apparatus is designed corresponding to the amount of initially-stored ink or developer. If the non-genuine cartridge is repetitively used, the photosensitive body and the developing unit become worn. Also, the photosensitive body is not properly cleaned or charged. Further, the ink or the developer may leak or an image may be deteriorated.
However, if the image is deteriorated, a user takes it as a problem of the image forming apparatus itself, and does not recognize that the non-genuine cartridge causes the problem.